


Dark Depths (Or What is Below)

by XQRC



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Caleb Widogast Needs a Hug, Caleb Widogast's Backstory, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Hurt Caleb Widogast, Hurt/Comfort, POV Caleb Widogast, POV Multiple, Panic Attacks, Whump, mentions of trent ickythong bc he is his own warning, sorta kinda caleb-centric? but everyone else is there as people too so not really!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27543844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XQRC/pseuds/XQRC
Summary: The Mighty Nein are exploring a cave near the underdark, mapping the area for a contract and looking for a mysterious magical artifact Caleb has read will be in the area. Monsters are showing up in places they shouldn't be, and something is strange about them. The group gets attacked-- yet again-- while trying to camp, and Caleb gets separated from the party by rocks and toxic gas.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Caleb Widogast & Everyone, Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 9
Kudos: 74





	1. The Fall Begins- POV Fjord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fjord is getting tired, everyone is getting tired. The story begins.

The Nein had just had to deal with another pack of bulettes. Nobody had told them that the cave they would be scouting through would be a nesting ground for the large, hungry beasts. He tugged at his new pendant. He had always wondered why he had seen Caleb do the same so many times in their travels, but something about reminding himself that he had some layer of magical protection in between him and Uk’otoa was comforting. 

He looked around at the group as they trudged forward through the cave. They were bloodied and nearing tapped, at least most of them were. Those wretched creatures had interrupted them trying to set up camp. Even though it was only 6:03 pm, as Caleb told them, they were all exhausted from the noxious fumes and tiring battles of the caves. Bursting through the walls, the bulettes tapped an underground reservoir of toxic gas. The bulette didn't even care about the gas, but the Nein certainly had to (except for Beau, who simply complained about the awful stink).

“Perhaps we should make camp here,” suggested Caduceus, who was looking behind them.

Caleb nodded his head in agreement, as did the others, as he began ritual casting his dome and placing silver thread around the tunnel.

“The dome won’t completely protect us from these bulettes,” Caleb said, grimacing. “They can just tunnel under. However, it will provide some protection against the toxic fumes and any bulette on the ground.”

“We should have people take watch then,” chimed in Jester.  
“Ja, I can take first watch,” Caleb said placidly.  
“I will join you and Frumpkin then.” 

The group then decided the rest of the watches, with him volunteering for the second watch with Beau. Caduceus and Yasha would take the third watch, while Veth, who was the most beat-up, would take the night off. He settled down in the dome, ready for his first set of sleep before his watch rolled around, and ever thankful that those awful nightmares were long gone.


	2. Things go south- POV Beau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beauregard hates not knowing, and these very annoying bulettes are a problem.

This cave was stupid. Just stupid. She hated not knowing, and the fact that their employer apparently didn’t find it necessary to inform them that this cave they were delving into was just crawling with big-ass lizard creatures didn’t improve his standing in her eyes. He had been rather sassy with them the whole time, but he was paying well and they knew that the magical artifact Caleb was looking for was down here. That is why they had taken the job, despite 18-year-old Beau itching to come out and throw hands with the man. Was he trying to get them killed? 

She flexed her bruised hands in and out to calm her emotions as they trudged away from the noxious cloud of gas those bulettes had stirred up. Caduceus watched behind them for more bulettes or more gas. That was good because she was far too focused on moving further into this cave so they could get out quicker. She and Caleb had been sharing map duty. They were charting the snaking tunnels they had crawled through (sometimes literally) as part of their job. Jester had taken to drawing the features of the land, for added information.

She stifled a sigh when Caduceus called the coast clear enough to camp. She wanted little more than to get this whole thing over with. That would be very inadvisable, as everyone, including her, was at least a little beat up. Looking around, Caleb and Veth looked the worst, which was unfortunate as they were the squishy members of the party. Predictable in the close quarters of the cave, though, especially with toxic gas coming into play. 

Yasha looked mostly okay, which was good, except for an angry-looking bite that graced her right arm. Yasha looked at her, causing her to blush as they shared a smile and sat down near Caleb, who was preoccupied with his dome. 

These bulettes were far stronger than any she had read about in her studies. While magical beasts weren’t a specialty, nor were they of any special interest to her while she was a student at the Soul, she kind of wished they had been. She was pretty sure that bulettes weren’t supposed to be immune to the acid and poison of the toxic clouds, yet these ones certainly did not seem to care. What’s more, while she was in combat, she had read their ki and found them to be even resistant to non-magical attacks. Caleb was particularly confused by this, so clearly these were no regular bulettes. In fact, he had said, they weren’t even supposed to come this far down, as they typically shouldn't want anything to do with the Underdark. 

She sat beside Yasha while she wrote this in her journal. Perhaps the magical artifact Caleb was looking for was mutating the native animals? Or maybe it was just the location, with these bulette becoming used to the acidic clouds of their home? She sighed and put down her journal. More mysteries still. 

Watches were divided up since these bastards were able to burrow, and she and Fjord were made to take the second watch. Some time into the watch, she sensed one of them tunneling underground.

“Shit,” she whispered. “Stay quiet Fjord, there is one not far beneath us.”

Fjord nodded and became stock still. They had learned the hard way how good these guy’s tremor senses were. She could only hope that this one would not notice them. Hardly even breathing, she closed her eyes and focused on the ground. 

The bulette seemed to drift away, and nothing but the sound of distant dripping remained. That was until the ground underneath them erupted with a crash. The floor of the cave completely caved in, and before she fell the last thing she saw was a gaping maw emerging and clasping around a startled Jester, who was suddenly turned into a blue and purple ape.


	3. Lost not found- POV Veth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terribly, terribly minor spoilers for episode 115. As in. If you haven't watched it you would not even know.
> 
> Veth realizes Caleb is missing. This isn't good.

She was starting to really hate being underground. Sure, she was short enough so that when they traveled through tight squeezes she could still walk while others had to crouch deeply or crawl, but that far from made up for constantly being harassed by filthy green frog monsters. Or being gassed by said monsters. The sickly green clouds of acid that smelled like the worst days at the alchemical shop times a thousand. And were-oh-so-conveniently sinking clouds, so that she was often submerged and drowning in them. 

“Fuck you,” she growled from the side of the cave as she sunk a crossbow bolt into the eye of the bulette. “Shouldn’t be glowing if you didn’t want to be a target.” 

Jester was an ape, Caleb’s doing or Jester’s she didn’t know and had wiggled out of the first of three bulette’s jaws while in such a form. These three were annoyingly harder to deal with than previous ones, and not just because of the lack of arcane energy from the spellcasters. Something was definitely up. Looking around the battlefield, the ground was a mess. She had managed to stay up on the highest level, as did Fjord, Yasha, and Jester. She had not seen the others fall but heard fighting not too far down from the nearby hole in the ground, so they must have been there. Pushing down her anxiety, she continued to let off arrow after arrow, even sinking her precious new dagger into the belly of a beast that got too close. 

It teetered and fell into the hole it came from and she watched it fall, scrambling at the sides of the wall and raining rocks upon itself as it failed to stop gravity. It was no doubt killed when those rocks buried its body. She chuckled and looked down at her new knife. That was nice. 

She then rushed to reach the others. She scrambled down the small wall and took stock of the others. Jester was still an ape, and poking at a dead bulette, whose glow was slowly fading. But… where was Caleb? 

Before she could ask, Caduceus, who was looking around confused, asked: “Have any of you seen Caleb?”

“Caleb!” she shouted, in panic. No. No. No. Not her boy. Her longest companion. Her saviour. Her best friend. Everyone else searched the nearby area. No Caleb. No body. Nothing. She took out the sending wire and began shouting his name into it, all over. No response.

Jester’s form returned. Her heart dropped as everyone looked around, eyes wide. She scrambled back up and looked around, and even under one of the slain bulettes. 

She looked desperately to Jester, who had obvious tears of panic in her eyes. 

“I just used my last third level spell slot,” Jester said, in a near sob, crouching down onto the ground. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t use sending to reach him. Oh no. I watched him fall.”


	4. An unfortunate tumble- POV Caleb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Caleb's turn to wake as their camp is attacked, and he sure is glad he doesn't have a fear of falling.

Despite everything in the day, the first watch was peaceful. He had sent Frumpkin to purr and make kitty biscuits in Jester’s lap, but only very, very gently as the bulettes were highly capable with their tremor sense. Two hours passed without event, with the two of them sitting close. It reminded him of the caves under the mountains as they trekked to save Veth’s husband. When he had uncovered his arms. When Jester had asked him if her calling him “stinky” made him uncomfortable. And when the lot of them had read smut until they made it to the other side (Fjord grimacing the whole time). In the end, he and Jester gently shook Beau and Fjord awake for their turn. He settled down quickly, body exhausted and fell deeply into sleep.

He woke abruptly, and he quickly assumed everyone else did too, as a terrible eruption shook their little alcove. He had little time to think when the floor underneath him began to give out. Panic rang in his head. His dome wasn’t enough, they were still vulnerable. Too late.

Jester, who had been sleeping near him when they settled down, let out a startled yelp, and he looked up to see her grasped in the jaws of a bulette that seemed to be… glowing? Everything was in slow motion. He dragged out a cocoon from his pouch, knowing Jester’s health was terribly low, and cast polymorph to turn her into a purple and blue ape. The walls were crumbling around him, everything was going too fast. 

“Scheiße,” he yelped as the floor shattered, and he plummeted. Casting featherfall, he stopped himself from being turned to a mess on the cave floor. He was clearly in a fresher portion of this particular hole, with newly dug sides and the smell of recently exposed gas stinging in the air. He looked up to where he had fallen. This was not an especially wide shaft, being only 20 or so feet across, but he was quite deep. If he had the arcane energy he could've flown up and helped in the battle that was clearly still brewing overhead, as indicated by the grunts of pain and Yasha’s telltale, low roar.

He could've climbed back up if he felt he could find enough handholds on a relatively slick hole that had to go up a sickening 200 feet. He looked to his left, the tunnel seemed to level out more and even go up, but he doubted there was any way to get up to the fighting in a reasonable amount of time from there. He heard shifting and a yell above him. He looked up and saw a teetering bulette and pebbles beginning to rain down upon him. He jumped back just in time as the bulette plummeted, scratching the walls of its tunnel and raining larger and larger rocks upon itself in its panic to not fall. It failed, slamming into the ground right in front of him, already dead. Or at least, if it had not been, the rain of boulders upon its body certainly did the trick. Just as they certainly did the trick in sealing his easiest means of escape. He flicked his dancing lights to life, and grimaced, looking at his way forward. 

“Mich? Ein schwein haben?” he asked sarcastically as he looked back at the bulette’s corpse. He stood there for a minute, very ready to just wait for a message to come through. After all, if he got lost how could they ever find him (other than Caduceuous’s locate creature, but that would be more of a waste of arcane resources). Grimacing, he knew he was very close to completely tapped magically. He had really needed that rest, with the swarms of monsters draining his spells. Bulettes weren’t the only things down here, just the most frequent, and they had been harrying them and causing them a nuisance every time they had tried to camp. He spun his lucky stone in his hand, tried and failed to contact the Nein with his wire (just in case), and waited. 

Until he could wait no longer, as he heard a hissing behind him. 

“Give me a break,” Caleb groaned, exhausted and cornered, as the green mist began pouring from the hallway behind him. Swirling up like hungry tendrils, the small area began to be quickly engulfed in it. “This will get worse before it gets better.” He holds his breath and begins to march through the gas, reminding him of the volcano. Only this gas was far more potent, stinging his skin as he walked through. He couldn’t hold his breath any more and his vision began to go dark. He took a breath.

His concentration falters as the burning acid coats his lungs “Sorry Jester…” he thought, doing his best not to scream or cough so he does not waste that breath. 

He grimaced and continued on, eyes scorching and vision growing blurry. He needed to get to higher ground. The poisonous gas sinks. He followed the bulette’s tunnel left and up. Hopefully, they could find him because he couldn't stay there. He wouldn’t die there. 

Following the tunnel, he reached a proper natural cave. He blinked burning tears from his eyes so he was able to survey the area. A platform of his level, turning into a cliff with a steep drop into an underwater lake of sorts, was direct to his left. The genuine Underdark. The tunnel behind him kicking putrid green gas around his feet, he sighed and walked as stealthily as he could into the seemingly empty cavern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Notes: “Mich? Ein schwein haben?” Roughly translates to “Me? Having a stroke of luck?”)
> 
> Sorry germany


	5. Last I saw him- POV Jester

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jester enjoys polymorph. She enjoys it far less when she looses her form without knowing why.

She felt herself return to her normal body. Caleb had cast polymorph on her. Caleb had done it right before he… fell. She had watched him reaching into his component pouch. Transform her to save her from that icky bulette and then… he fell. This was bad. Very bad. 

She ran to the hole. And turned to Veth. 

“I just used my last third level spell slot,” she said, in a near sob, crouching down onto the ground. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t use sending to reach him. Oh no. I watched him fall.” 

Jester cursed internally. Today had been very long, battle wise. She had spent too much energy killing those creatures. This was her job. She was responsible for sending. And now they didn’t even know if Caleb was alive! He could just have been hurt and that could have made him drop concentration. Or he could have just dropped the spell. But he wouldn’t do that if he thought she was still in danger. Caleb was too kind for that. Too smart for that. But…

Jester grimaced and regained her composure. Freaking out now is not going to help Caleb. She needs her spells back so she can see if he is okay, and she needs her spells back in case he isn’t. They will find him. 

Turning, she asks “Caduceus, do you have locate creature or locate object ready?”

“I do, but that is assuming he is still within 1000 feet. I will still try it though.”

Caduceus waves his hands and his eyes begin to glow faintly. He looks down in the direction of the hole, then slightly further. Then his eyes dim again. 

“Well he was there, and then I’m guessing he went out of range,” Caduceus says simply.

“Why the fuck would he go out of range, he’s moving away from us,” Beau replies in a frustrated huff. 

“Well maybe he is getting chased by those fucking frogs while we stand here doing nothing,” Veth snaps.

“Guys arguing isn’t going to help Cayleb!” she shouts, upset. They are just bickering and it isn’t helping anyone.

The two women huff at her words, but no doubt know she is right.

“Alright guys maybe we should just try to get some sleep… again… so we can get some health and spells back, right?” posits Fjord. 

The Nein nod in agreement. It is going to be a long night. Veth takes first watch, clearly too jittery from Caleb falling down a hole and having who knows what else happen to him. She puts on a cheerful face for Veth and takes first watch with her.


	6. Inky depths- POV Caleb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caleb is alone and lonely in what seems to be the actual underdark. Maybe once he gets a good night's rest he can help the others help him? He certainly hopes so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Notes: Yesser, cats do have darkvision, thank you kindly)

His vision was blurry from the putrid fog that had permeated the tunnel. Acid was no good for the eyes, and he had to open his eyes multiple times so he did not smash his face on any walls on the way here. Or the floor for that matter. While the bulette tunnel was fairly smooth, it was not an especially easy trek with him blind, even with his practice from when he would send Frumpkin ahead of him. Looking about the cavern as he slowly crept forward, he was on the lookout for anything. He knew he was vulnerable, especially now, acid scarred and bruised. 

With the cliff to his left and a wall to his right, he shuffled against the wall and did his best to hide behind a nearby stalagmite. He snapped Frumpkin into his lap, and after giving his feline companion a few pets, went blind and let his dancing lights die. As always, looking at himself was somewhat disorientating. And he looked a mess. Dried blood peppered his face and a nasty bruise laid across his neck. His faintly glowing, distant eyes were red and swollen. But looking a mess was nothing new. He should shave again soon. Blinking through Frumpkin, he sent his very best cat to the cliff’s edge. He really wished Beauregaurd or Fjord were here to tell him if something went wrong and stabilize him. For now, the stalagmite would do. 

Looking down the cliff, Frumpkin could see all the way to the inky depths that crashed lightly on the shore. Rocks from the cliff peppered it and shallower water, with a thin overhang being all that currently kept Frumpkin from plummeting. 

“I need to sleep,” Caleb thought with a goan. “The Nein can’t find you if you are dead, just your corpse.”

Snapping back into himself, he began to once again ritual cast the dome. At least if you are the only one there you are less likely to attract the bulettes, he figured. After all, a guard does little good when their adversaries lie out of sight completely. Laying out his bedroll and wishing he had saved a seventh level slot a long time ago, he got to rest, ignoring the burning of his skin that made contact with the ground. 

~~~

Fretful dreams came to him. He missed his family, and it had been a long while since he had been truly alone while asleep. Even when in the Xorhaus or the Tower, there was always the feeling of someone nearby. Not here. The crushing weight of loneliness and vulnerability seeped into his sleeping bones like a deadly poison. He knew his family, the Nein, would be okay without him or his dome, so long as they had each other, but he was very far away from them, and would have to sleep, alone, if he hoped to see them again any time soon. 

He could not escape from his thoughts while he slept. Most nights, he assumes, his dreams are unremarkable, as his unconscious mind pays them so little head that they are not stored within his perfect memory. All else, are dark. Tonight, in the pure darkness of the depths of the world, his dreams matched his environment. 

~~

Back in a chair. The air was cold and crisp. Dry. But the smell was far too sterile. The chair became terribly uncomfortable, and he squirmed as his vision cleared. A woman crouched in front of him. She wore the garbs of a patient. Was he at a hospital? Oh. In her eyes, lucid and full of intention, he could see his house. Burning. No. He could see Ikithon. Telling him his parents were… traitors? He had heard them. No. 

It was all a lie. He hadn’t killed his wonderful, loving, good… good, parents because they were going to rip down the empire and cause the death and destitution of thousands he had just… killed them. 

And now, he was… here. Wherever here was. The woman in front of him seemed to disappear without even moving, eyes glossing over, mouth forming incoherent sounds, body going still. He just watched her. What else could he do? He looked behind her, and other patients, in wheelchairs, sat catatonic or babbling. That is where he must be… the last thing he remembers is… no… no… no. 

Caleb closes his eyes and clears his mind as best he can. He is in a sanatorium, if his sterile surroundings and pained companions are anything to go by. 

“Master Ikithon put me here…” he thinks bitterly. I need to get out. I need to… what if they kill me? What if they find me out? They can’t. They can’t. He can’t have done this either and yet here he is. No. He can not let them kill him. He will suffer, as he should, but… not like this…

~~

Caleb awakes with a yelp as an alarm sounds in his mind. Someone or something is in his area.


	7. Braids in the dark- POV Yasha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is tired and anxious, and Beau seems to be having a hard time sleeping. Maybe Yasha can help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this got very shippy. I have no regretss.

Yasha was familiar with loss, so she was familiar with compartmentalization. Right now, all she could do is damage control for her friends, however inexperienced at that she may be. Knowing the look in Caleb’s eyes, she knew he was going to survive for as long as he could. She had faith in her new family, and so she would have faith in him. And she knew the others shared that faith. What she couldn’t fault them for, however, was that they were freaking out. 

Naturally, she looks right to Beau. Who is currently looking like she will punch the cave walls until they share the secrets of where Caleb went. While Yasha was terribly impressed by the other woman’s ability to extract the truth from people, she mused internally that she doubted such skill could extend to rock, no matter how many ghosts she could punch. 

She admired that tenacity. That ferocious sense of protectiveness is what drew her to Zuala, and drew her to Beau. You had to have that quality to live in a tribe. While Beau’s “tribe” that was the Cobalt Soul wouldn’t make any children fight to the death, it no doubt fostered her natural stubbornness into something good and productive. 

Right now, however, it was making Beau agitated and restless. So much so, that when she woke for the second watch, Beau was furiously tapping on her notebook in between writing. She just sighed and scooted over to her while Veth and Jester took their leave. 

“What, uh, what are you writing?” she asked Beau, who quickly looked up from her notebook.  
“Shit, is it that time, huh?” Beau replied with a huff looking down and to the side.   
“Yeah, you should probably get some sleep.”  
“I know it’s just… who knows what happened to Caleb right? We keep seeing these weird things down here, and Caleb kept mentioning a magical artifact right?”  
“Yeah, so is that what you are writing about?”  
“Yeah I mean what if this artifact is like doing all this? What if Caleb stumbles upon it and is like turned into a… I don’t know” Beau chuckled darkly despite herself. “I just don’t know if I can sleep, I am too worked up…”  
“Do you need me to help you relieve some tension?”  
“Uhhhh…” Beau began to blush in the dark.

Whoops. “I mean uh like whenever I get tense I like to braid flowers or just braids into my hair I mean.” Nailed it.  
“Uh yeah sure sure. Do you want to… braid my hair for me then Yasha?”  
“Uh yeah sure sure.”

They undid Beau’s topknot and Yasha combed her hair out. Beau already had a braid in her hair, but it had become a mess over the previous day. Normally Jester would braid Beau’s hair, so this was kind of new. Yasha was just glad that Beau was facing away from her because she could tell that her pale complexion was showing a radiant blush. Going slowly, Yasha laced four small, complex braids on either side of Beau’s head. She only noticed, once she delicately tied her hair back up, that Beau had fallen asleep. Well good. She would just sit here with Beau half on her lap, leaning forward onto her legs, for the rest of her watch.

That was fine with Yasha. 

It had been a nice momentary distraction, but looking into what would be inky darkness she couldn’t help but feel bad. Here she was, with her family, while Caleb was out there. She hoped he was safe.


	8. A sound in the dark- POV Caleb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caleb is woken by his alarm spell but nothing seems to be off. Right?

The alarm at the back of his skull rang like a siren as he bolted awake. He heard nothing. Caleb summoned Frumpkin and began to look through him. Nothing. Somehow more disconcerting. Sitting in silence, he assessed his condition. He had slept enough, which is good, and means the others likely have too at this point, especially if they stayed where they were. Hopefully they were doing alright. Since all he could do was hope, Caleb pushed that though back in his mind. 

He had about 20 more minutes on his dome, which was at least some layer of protection against whatever had triggered his alarm spell. So he would have to wait, he supposed. Pulling out his spellbook, he prepared his spells for the day. Polymorph was a certainty, as always, but digging claws will likely be needed. 

Once he was done, he had 5 minutes and 42 seconds left. Hmm. A few more seconds of looking out into the inky void passed before his mind was filled with the sparkling, if incredibly distressed, voice of the wonderful Miss Lavorre. 

“Are you all right? Where are you? Are you in a safe area? Can you get to the surface on your own? We are okay.”

Caleb sighed in relief, and the tension aching in the back of his mind relaxed just a bit. That was very well worded, she must have thought about it a lot. That was nice.

“I am alright. I am in a cave. I was pushed out by gas. I have polymorph. Something is here. I can’t see it.” he whispered back.

“There is something there? What do you mean? Are you in danger? Stay where you are maybe? How do we get to you? Doo… doo…” Jester replied in a far more rushed tone.

A silent chuckle couldn’t be helped. “I could recast the dome. Go down the hole through the rubble, go straight. Beware gas. I am on the right side of the cave.”  
A few moments passed before Caleb was sure that was the last of the messages for now. He snapped into Frumpkin for another look around. Nothing still. Pushing aside his anxiety, he prepared to cast the dome again. 

The transition from dome to dome went smoothly. Considering how it took him 23 grueling minutes of stumbling around in the gas alone to make it through to this cave, and that they would have to dig through how many feet of rubble to get to him, he could plan on it taking about 30 minutes for them to get here. Sitting in the dome, Frumpkin out and making kitty biscuits in his lap, he began the last leg of his solitude. 

Then something made a noise in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is where things may or may not go downhill for our wizard man. And maybe some others, if you enjoy yourself some angst! Expect chapters to get longer as we get into the story proper.


	9. Search- POV Caduceus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nein rush to reunite with their lost wizard, tracing his steps into the dark depths of a strange cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last of the Nein gets a chapter! That and Cad’s judgmental and observational nature fit pretty well with the first "longer" chapter! I will be falling into (or trying to fall into) regular posting schedules for those of you who might be enjoying this story! I apologize for the relatively late upload. Fandom has been hard to look at without seeing venom lately so I’m probably going to take a step back from it and just focus on actual cannon and this here fanfic.

Everyone woke up, at least those who were asleep, very quickly in the morning. Jester was even quicker to her sending spells. She had clearly rehearsed the first things she was going to say, a rarity, Caduceus noted, but her face journey and words certainly got more chaotic through her and Caleb’s conversation. Caleb was alive if he was responding, but everyone still watched with bated breath as they waited for Jester to relay information. 

“He’s down the hole. Caleb said he had to run away from the gas, so it is prooobably still down there so we definitely need to watch out for that guys,” Jester said, returning her eyes from Fjord’s hands.

“Alright, so just polymorph it up Jess?” posited Beau.  
“Yeah yeah yeah I’ll be a… dire badger again.”

Jester walked up to the rubble-filled hole. There was a good drop before the first boulder began, and there were clear claw marks gouging themselves into the sides of the walls. Caduceus noted how it probably hadn’t been completely clean even before the bulette fell, considering how they seemed to leave somewhat messy tunnels normally. Fjord peered down at the 50 or so foot drop and pulled a length of rope from his bag. 

Beau turned to Fjord and pointed at the rope. “Yeah I’ll go last so we don’t lose this. After all, I can always slow fall.”  
“Fair enough,” he replied, handing her the rope. 

She took one end and tied it to one of the nearby jutting rocks. This cave didn’t have a ton, but she clearly found one that was serviceable. Throwing the other end of the rope down, she wiped her hands together and looked to the rest of the Nein. Jester went down first. She had an odd gleam in her eye. Anxious determination filled the air, so naturally she would be no exception. One by one the Nein climbed down, with Beau jumping down the hole afterwards. She landed with a little slide, but quickly recovered despite the uneven landing zone. 

“Alrighty, who wants to be my polymorph buddy now?” said Jester, looking around with feigned lightheartedness. With a nod from Yasha and a twist of her ring, the two of them became great badgers. They quickly got to work, pushing aside the rocks and boulders and rubble for what seemed like a long time. The rest of the Nein scooted from stone to stone to avoid both getting in their way and falling down. Eventually, a little bit of a tunnel outside of their current shaft was exposed, as was a vague haze of poisoned gas. With a bit more digging and a sneeze, the two badger friends (one of which was blue and the other with the coloration of a honey badger) finished their work and transformed back. They had exposed enough of the tunnel to be able to fit through into it comfortably. 

“Must be it then,” commented Beau, who spared no time jumping right into the exposed tunnel. “Hey, uh, Caduceus? Can I get some light down here?”  
“Oh yeah, sure.”

Entering the tunnel after Jester and Veth, who both had jumped down quickly after Beau, Caduceus less nimbly hopped down the small drop into their path. The air smelled pungent but not terrible, and with a quick activation of his staff the haze appeared to be not too much of a hazard. The walls were tinted the telltale slick green of rocks infused with the gas. It would not be hard to glance and mistake them for being covered in a light algae if not for them running into caverns that had clearly been exposed to the gas for long periods of time. The walls would release the gas once more if disturbed, so they had been taking care not to break any stone that was colored in such a way.

The gas behaves oddly, and while Caduceus expected he would not know of any such gas, the rest of the group had no idea of such a gas being a thing. Ah well. The path was easy enough to follow, with some small twists and turns. The previous tunnels, those carved naturally, had been easier to navigate than the bulette holes, which were floored with first-sized rocks instead of smooth stone. They continued along for a time, the air vibrating with nervous energy, when Veth, who had been scouting ahead, messaged using her wire.

“There is an opening up ahead!”  
“Oh, uh, yeah, um okay,” he replied, then turned to the greater group. “Veth says there is an opening up ahead where she is.”  
Jester turned to him. “Yeah let’s go!”

The group picked up the pace, as Veth had not spotted any danger, to catch up to their halfling friend. She stood at the cusp of a large cavern. There was a cliff falling steeply down a few large steps to their left, and a cave wall, made irregular by natural stone formations, a few more large steps to their right. The gentle roll of water could be heard, and looking over the edge, water, murky and dark, could be seen no less than 70 feet down. Entering the cavern, Jester looked undeniably distressed.

“This looks like where he would be…” she began. “Cayleb?”

The rest joined in the call, not so terribly loud as to summon any undesirable creatures, but loud enough to carry. In this time, Caduceus got the chance to examine the body of water beside them. It stretched for a good few hundred feet before disappearing into further, lower-roofed caves past his vision. 

“Guys…” called Beau, voice tight. “I think I found something.”

At her call, the group convened and looked to where she was pointing. Small cat pawprints in the grit of the stone floor. A small shuffle of someone laying down. And drag marks. Following them, to the chorus of gentle “oh no"s coming from the group, the faint furrows led not to the tunnel opening on the adjacent side of where they came in but over the cliff. Glancing around more, he found larger footprints than that of Frumpkin. Round, heavy footprints, with short claw scratches. Something bipedal. He relayed this to the party. 

Without deliberation, Jester clearly began another message to Caleb. 

“Caleb, where are you? Did someone take you?” Caleb please tell us you are okay. We got to the cave but you aren’t here and there are drag marks and they go to the water and...and…”

She sighed. Caduceus hoped she got her message across. She stood, waiting, looking up at the ceiling slightly, hands flexing open and closed for too long. Her face became pale as the sky. 

“He cut out. He was saying something and then he cut out.”

A gentle “oh” from Veth was the group’s only response.

“Caleb? Are you okay? We are going to find you. Hold on.” Jester’s voice was merely a whisper, but it rang loud in the silence of the cavern. 

From what he could assume was a lack of response, Jester just dropped down to the floor. She just sat there, tracing random patterns into the gravel. Fjord and Yasha closed their eyes, and Beau shouted “fuck” suddenly, breaking the silence. Veth walked to the edge of the cliff, looked over, took out a feather from her component pouch, and looked at him pointedly. Caduceus walked over to stand beside Veth, who was now looking with venom down at the water. 

“I’m going down there to try to look for Caleb. If he fell into the water -- if something came up to him and grabbed him somehow and dragged him into the depths I --” she sighed shakily. “I hate water.”

“So you want me to come down there with you and look on the shore for Caleb with you?” Caduceus asked softly. 

She nodded, and jumped. He had little choice but to follow quickly, and he felt primal relief when she cast feather fall on them. He normally tried to stay composed but falling was… it never felt pleasant. Landing softly on the small shore of whatever this body of water was, he and Veth looked for any sign of Caleb on or around the large rocks. 

After a good while of searching, he grimaced at their lack of success. He once more looked out onto the water, now being able to see into the caves that the water continues into. And he sits down on the ground. He pulls out his incense and begins to commune with the Wild Mother. 

Breathing deeply, he begins. 

“Is Caleb Widogast alive?”

A warm breeze stirs the stagnant cave air around him, becoming as fresh and warm as on the surface. A yes. A tension releases from his body and he exhales.

“Was he taken into these caves ahead of me.”

The breeze remains, pushing from his back to straight ahead of him. Another yes. He nods. 

“Is he being held prisoner right now?”

The breeze continues for a second more, before he opens his eyes. Turning his attention back to Veth, who is still hopping from boulder to boulder like Caleb would be hiding in one of their crevices, he calls for her attention. 

“Veth, he is in those caves ahead of us. He is alive but being held prisoner.”

She squeaks in some mix of emotion and rushes to the wall of the cliff. She begins to climb the wall, but doesn’t make it far before remembering to cast spider climb on herself. She quickly reaches the top. Some shuffling and shouting later, Veth makes the same trek down with the rest of their group, meeting Caduceus at the bottom. Fjord is the first to speak up. 

“So I suppose that now would be a good time for water breathing?”

Nods of approval are made, even from Veth despite her shudder, and with a clap to his chest Fjord casts his spell, and begins to step down into the water. Caduceus and the rest follow him, jumping from boulder to boulder to make their way in. 

“This water is freezing,” grumbles Beau.  
“This is no worse than when we went up north. We need to get Caleb,” responds Veth, eyes slightly narrowed.  
“You guys…” says Jester, her tone distraught enough to make the two turn to her apologetically.  
“Sorry Jess,” Beau whispers. 

The water is cold. Bitingly cold. They all submerge themselves and begin to swim across the underground lake into the caves ahead. The water is murky, but with his light spell they have some sort of guidance, even if more light would be best. 

Reaching the other side, underneath the now low overhang of these new caves, it is clear this place is a maze. Pillars of stone coming from the ceiling create different paths to take.

Fjord sighs. “Well this might be difficult.”


End file.
